Typewriting machine



G. o. DEGENER TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Dec. 12,-1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Aug. 19, `1930.

Patented Aug. 19, -1930 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE GUSTAVE 0 DEGENER,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO ROYAL TYPEWRITEB COM- PAN-Y, INC., OFNEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK TYPEWRITING MACHINEApplication led December 12, 1927. Serial No. 239,490.

This invention relates to platen shift mechanism particularly adapted tobe used in connection with a. power actuated machine such as shown in myprior application Ser. 5 No. 243,067, led Dec. 28, 1927, althoughcapable of use in other types of power driven machines. The platen isnormally held in its lower position and is moved to the upper caseposition by means of a spring. The power means is employed to return theplaten to the lower position in opposition to'the spring. Upon adepression o'f the platen shift key,

the latch which normally holds the platen in the lower position isreleased and the ward to upper caseposition; .At the same time thismovement of the plateiistarts the motor if lthe lat-ter is notalreadyrunning. A second latch is moved by the key into position to holdthe platen against accidental displacement from its upper case position.

As soon as the key is released the power operated mechanism is permittedto come into action and the platenwill be returned to its lower caseposition against the action of said spring /whilevthe operation of thelatches will be exactly the reverse of that which takes place upon thedepression of a ke F lirther features of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description and set forth in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fore and aft section through the machine with parts inside elevation showing the invention and mechanism in its normalposition.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the parts in position which theyoccupy when the key is depressed. Figure 3 is a fragmentary view showingthe key returned to normal position and the .power operated mechanism 1naction:

Figure 4 is a side elevation discloslng the manner in which the powermechanism is connected to the shift frame.

Figu

re 5 is a side elevation illustrating different position.

spring immediately moves the-.platen upthe latch mechanism with parts inslightlyv A shift key lever 1 is pivoted to turn about an axis 2 and isheld in normal position by means of a spring 3 one end of which isattached to the key lever and the other end to a plate 4 carried by atransverse bar 5. A stop 6 engages the key lever and limits its movementunder the influence of the spring 3. An upward extension 7 of the keylever is connected by link 8 to a latch member 9 pivoted on an axis 23.This latch member 9 has a hook 10 which when the platen is inv lowercasel position engages over a projection or stop 11 on the shift frameand holds it in lower case position.

Although the invention is a plicable to diferent types of machines it.is lierein illustrated as beirp applied to the standard Royal machine.is construction comprises a shift frame A having a connecting link a anda track rail B upon which is guided a track rail C of the carriage Dwhich latter hook 10 is moved out of engagement with the projection orstop 11 and the spring 12 thereupon moves the platen to its `upper caseosition in which a rejection 16 on the` shift rame contacts with) a stopF on the ma'in frame as shown in Figure 2.

A lever 18 is pivoted at 19 to the upwardly extending arms 7 of theshift key lever supplortsl the usual platen E. The two case and hasconnected to its upper end a spring l 20, the other end of which isattached to an ear on the arm 7. This causes the arm 7 and the lever 18to move together normall but permits independent movement thereo Thelever 18 is connected by a link 21 to a latch member 22 which is alsopivoted on the axis` V23. The upper end of this latch-has a cutout 24forming ashoulder which is adapted engage beneath the shift frame stop11 and to lock the platen in upper case sition, as shown in Fi re 2. Thelink 8 1s connected to the latch 9 above its ivot 23 and the link 21 isconnected to the atch 22 below said ivot. The extension 25 on the shiftkey ever limits the downward movement thereof by coming into contactwith the underside of a plate 26 carried by a transverse frame bar 27.

When the parts are in the normal position shown in Figure 1, the hook 10ovcrlies the shift frame stop 11 whilethe latch member 22 lies somewhatin front of said stop. During the first part of the depression of thekey lever the parts firsti move to the Figure position in which the hook10 is nearly disengaged from the stop 11 and the latch 22 has been movedinto contact with the said .stop.' A slightfurther depression of theshift key lever causes the hook to release Y the stop 11 and alsotensions the spring 20 so that when the laten moves to its upper caseposition un er the influence of the spring 12, the latch member 22 willimmediately snap under the stop 11 to the holding position shown inFigure 2. On the return movement-of the shift key lever the latchmembers will be operated in the reverse order, the latch 22 being firstmoved out of engagement with the stop 11 in order to permit a powermechanism to return the platen to lowe position and thereafter the latchmember 9 is moved so that the hook 10 enr gages over the stop and theparts are again eld in the Figure 1 position.

Whenever the platen moves to the upper case position under the influenceof the spring 12, an arm 28 on the shift frame A engages the upper endof a lever 29 pivoted to the frame at 30 and this lever is connected by.

a link 31 to a means for starting an electric motor, which is clearlyset forth in my above mentioned application. So far as the inventionherein claimed is concerned, it is immaterial what means is employedyfor starting the motor so long as it is actuated by the movement of theshift frame. O-f course in many cases a motor will be already runningand this movement will be merely an idle movement. However, if the motoris not running, it is evident-that a depression of the shift key leverwill release the platen when in its lower case position from its latchmechanism, that the platen will be then moved to the upper caseposition, and'that this upward movement of the platen will immediatelystart the motor. 4

It now remains to consider the mechanism by which the power is employedto return the carriage and platen to their lower case osition upon therelease of the shift ke ever. An intermediate-portion of the shi t keylever 1 has a cut out 32 and a plate spring 33 carried by the key leverextends downwardly and terminateslin a generally horizontal portion 34at its lower end, the

A power or actuating lever 35 is pivoted on anaxis 36 carriedv by thetransverse frame bar 27 and is held in normal position by a spring 37attached at one end to the power lever and at its other end to the plate26 while a projection 38 on the power lever is adatpfed to engage withthe transverse bar 27 limit the movement of the lever under influence ofthe spring 37. An upwardly extending arm 39 on the power lever isconneeted by a link 40, one end of which engages in a slot in said armand theother end of the link is connected to the upper arm 41 of a bellcrank lever ivoted at 42 on the frame of the machine. e other arm`l` 41of this bell crank lever is guided between a Hat depending portion ofthe' connecting link a and an offset lug 43 which is bent out of saidlink. This arm 41 terminates in an ear 44 which is connected by a spring45 to an ear 46 on the connecting link a. It is therefore apparent thatif the power lever is moved to exert a pull on the link this willactuate the bell crank lever 41 and the spring 45 being stronger thanthe spring 12 will return the platen to its lower case position. The useof the spring however, avoids any sudd en jerks and cushions the wholereturning movement.

Ashaft 51 which is provided with a plurality of projections 52 is drivenfrom a suitable source of power, such as an electric motor, as set forthin m above mentioned application. The ends o the fingers or projections52 form larcs of a circle concentric with the axis of said shaft.` Astar wheel 47 is pivoted at 48 on the power lever and a sprlng late 49causes thestar wheel and lever norma y to move together but permits in4dependent movement of the star wheel. This wheel has a plurality of armsor fingers 50 in the ends of which are depressions 53 which correspondin curvature with the ends of the projections or fingers 52 on the powershaft 51.

The front end of the lever 35 is provided with an offset extension 54which extends above the upper edge of the lever and as shown in Figure1, normally rests against the portion 34 ofthe spring 33. Whenever thekey lever 1 is delpressed this extension 54 `will be moved oi t e spring34 and rest in engagement with a portion 55 on the under edge of the keylever 1, as shown in Figure 2. It 1s to be noted that the horizontalportion 34 of the spring is at a slightly lower level than the portion55 so that on a return movement of the key lever the oiset 54 willcontact with the end of the horizontal portion 34,

extension 54 to pass up into the cut out 32. This movement permits therear end of the lever which carries the star wheel to drop until one ofthe arms 50 of the star wheel will be engaged and operated by a finger52 on the rotating shaft 51, in the same manner as set forth in my abovementioned application. It is obvious that such action will produce anupward movement of the portion of the power lever 35 in the rear of itspivot 36 and this movement will pull forward on the link and therebyreturn the platen E to its lower case position, as previously set forth,During this movement of the power lever4 by the power mechanism, theforward end of the lever will be moved out of the recess 32, as

. shown in Figure 3, and the spring will thereupon close the entrance tosaid recess. It is to be remembered that this actiondoes not takes placeuntil the shift key lever is released so that the shift key lever willbe in normal position by the time the power mechanism has returned theplaten to lower case position and the power lever is permitted to returnto its normal position. This will bring all parts once more to theFigure 1 position.

It is obvious that the invention in its broader aspects may be appliedto different types of machines and used in connection with differentforms of latch mechanism. It is therefore to be understood that theinvention is intended to include all modifications ofform, proportionsor construction which, are coveredby the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a typewriting machine, a platen shift frame, spring means tendingto move said frame to one of two positions, a latch preventing suchmovement, key operated means for releasing said latch, and poweroperated means for returning the platen to normal p0- sition against thespring means. l

2. In a typewriting machine, a platen shift frame, spring means tendingto move said frame to one of two positions, a latch preventingsuchmovement, key operated means for releasing said latch, and poweroperated means for returning the platen to normal position against thespring means, said power operated means being brought into operationupon the release of the key operated means.

3. In a typewriting machine, a platen shift frame, a key, spring meanswhich move the frame lnto upper case position upon a depression ofthekey, and power operated means for returning the frame to lower caseposition upon the release of the key.

4. In a typewriting machine, a platen shift frame, a key, spring meanswhich move the frame into upper case position upon a depression ofthekey, power operated means for re turning the frame to lower caseposition upon the release of the key, and latches operated by the keyfor holding the frame in either case positlon.

5. In a typewritin machine, a shift frame, means normally tening to movethe frame to upper case position, a latch restraining said means, keyoperated means for releasing the latch, power operated means including anormally mactive motor for returning the frame to lower case positionupon release of said key operated means, and connections operated by theframe in its movement to upper case/position for starting the motor.

6.l In a typewriting machine, a shift frame, means normally tending tomove the frame to upper case position, a latch restraining said means,key operated means for releasing the latch, a normally inactive motor,connections operated by the frame in its movement to upper case positionfor starting the motor, and power operated means operatively connectedwith the motor for returning the frame to lower case position.

7, In a typewriting machine, a shift frame.. means constantly tending tomove the shift frame to upper case position, a latch for restrainingsaid movement, a key, connections from said key to the latch for movingthe same to inoperative position, a second latch and yieldingconnections from the key to the second latch whereby case shift movementis permitted and the second latch is permitted .to function.

8. In a typewriting machine, a shift frame, means constantly tending tomove the shift frame to upper case position, poweroperated mechanism forreturnin the frame to lower case position, and yiel ing connectionsbetween the power operated mechanism and the shift frame.

9. In a typewriting machine, a shift frame, means tending to move saidframe to upper case position, a latch restraining said means, a keyunconnected from the shift frame, apower driven shaft, a power levernormally out of operative relation with said shaft, means for operatingsaid latch upon the down stroke ofthe key to permit said means to movethe shift frame, and means for permitting the power lever to move intooperative relation with the shaft upon the return movement of the keylever and thereby return the frame to Ilower case position.

10. In a typewriting machine, a shift frame, means normally tending tomoge the frame to one of two positions, a latch restraining said means,key operated means for releasing the latch, power operated meansincluding a normally inactive motor for returning the frame to normalposition upon release of said key operated means, and connectionsoperated by the frame in its movement to one of said positions forstarting the motor. l

11. In a typewriter machine, a shift frame, means normally tending tomove the frame to one position, a latch restraining said means, keyoperated means for releasing the latch, a normall inactive motor,connections operated by the frame in its movement to said position forst-arting the motor, and power operated means operatively connected withthe motor for returning the frame to the other position.

12. In a typewriter machine,. a platen, shift frame, a key, spring meansfor moving the frame into uplper case position upon a depression of t ekey, and power operated means for returning the frame to lower caseposition.

. 13. In a typewriter machine, a shift frame movable from lower caseposition to upper case position, a spring for moving the shiftframe'from lower case position to upper case position, a latch forretaining the shift frame in its lower case position against the tensionof said spring, a power shaft, apower lever normally disengaged fromsaid power shaft for moving the frame from upper case position to lowercase position, and a key lever for first disengaging the latch from theshift frame and for subsequently effecting engagement between the powerlever and the shaft for actuating said lever to move the shift frame tolower case position against the tension of said spring before thecompletion of the return movement of said key lever.

14. 1n a typewriter machine, a shift frame movable fromf one position toanother, a power shaft having fingers formed with ends located :in arcsof a circle concentric with the axis of the shaft, a power levernormally disengaged from aid ower shaft for moving the frame to one o Ysaid positions, a

star wheel pvoted to said power lever and having extensions provided intheir ends with depressions adapted to fit the ends of the fingers, andkey controlled means normally holding said lpower lever so that theextensions on the star wheel are normally out of the path of the fingerson said shaft, said key lever being adapted upon' depression to effectengagement between the extensions and fingers to move the shift framefrom one position to the other'.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

GUSTAVE O. DEGENER.

